Big crowds make CCTVs ineffective

The police have earmarked crowded places in the region,which comprises 16 police stations. The officials said a dedicated team of 200 policemen from the Local Arms Unit will be ready round-the-clock to frisk people or sanitise a spot.

According to the police,they have earmarked crowded places under the jurisdiction of each police station and are now focusing on decongesting them. Bajaj said,“The floating population in South Mumbai is very high. Around three million people come here for work. Several places are full of congestion. Hence,we have asked the BMC and Traffic Department to assist us in decongesting these places.”

The police said there are various spots with illegal hawkers and illegal parking which make them vulnerable for terror attacks. Bajaj added,“We have asked BMC to take action against illegal hawkers and the traffic police have been told to expedite action against illegal parking. In specific cases,we suggested the traffic police to issue notification to turn overly congested spots into permanent no parking zones.” With the move being already implemented in Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar areas,which were targeted on July 13,the measures are showing results,the police claimed.

The police said it will be conducting frequent audits of hotels,lodges,malls etc and certify them with Minimum Security Standard (MSS) compliant installations. Bajaj added,“We will conduct security audits of places where people stay or hangout. The authorities would be told about steps that could be taken to secure their installations. We will certify them with MSS if they follow our instructions. This step is to ensure security for the general public when it visits such installations.”

With festivals like Ramzan,Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri lining up,the sleuths have asked the mandals to beef up security by putting up CCTV cameras. Bajaj said,“We have asked the mandals to put up CCTV cameras and also keep volunteers to keep a watch on those who visit there.”